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Liz, how well do you know the cocktail tastes of the crowd you'll be entertaining? In addition to avoiding a gin-based "pink" drink because you're already using gin in the Pegu Club, you might want to go with a somewhat fruitier style of drink. It's a sad fact that some folks don't care for gin because it's too medicinal for their taste. I happen to love Campari, but the people who dislike gin may well turn up their noses at Campari as well. Little ms foodie's Strawberry Drop sounds like a good candidate, as does anything with pomegranate (Grenadine) or cranberry. Maybe if you do a fruit-juice-and-soda drink it will be easier to provide a non-alcoholic alternative. Aside from the mother to be, there may be people who don't drink alcohol, or who simply want to drink more than one without getting sloshed.

Kristin, I've never had nori in soup. Do you think that toasting the nori contributed to flavor, or did you just do that to make it easier to crumble? I imagine that it softened very quickly in the soup. Certainly looks yummy - nice improvising.

I can't find the movies either, Ted. The book insert says of the CD-ROM: My translation: The CD may or may not be finished by publication deadline. BTW, "writing" on the blackboard - brilliant! I tried poking around in U.S., U.K., Spanish , Catalan, on both Windows and Mac. It never occurred to me to treat the movies like some sort of fortune cookie. Maybe you're on to something there.

One of my friends had a great suggestion over brunch just this morning. I was telling him about the new English edition of the Ducasse "Grand Livre". It's a lovely book, but I find that I have to sit in a chair with the book in my lap to read it. It's so heavy that holding it up becomes uncomfortable. It's so pretty (and expensive!) that I don't want to leave it lying on the kitchen counter. My friend suggested getting one of those dictionary stands like they have in libraries. Several of the books I've bought in the last few months are just too big. Bouchon, Spoon, John Folse's Cajun and Creole Cuisine - all too damn heavy! I wish that the publishers would take a hint from the el Bulli books. Those books are also gorgeous and very heavy, but there's a CD-ROM included in the case that has printable recipes.

I'd say that yogurt thinned with a bit of milk probably would come closer to the right flavor. You could also try ordering some of the buttermilk culture (starter) I mentioned to Kristin up-thread (she's in Japan and can't find buttermilk there).

Mizducky, that electric stovetop can't be helping matters. Maybe an electric skillet would provide more control. Probably not as good as a big ol' iron pot on a gas range, but buying a gas cooktop for your rental house is not the ideal investment...

For me at least, the "wow" factor here is the fact that the citrus segments remain entirely intact. Sure, we can cut away the bitter pith (I'm guessing that most folks here know how to slide a knife to either side of the citrus membrane), but then we wind up with cut citrus. The beauty of this enzyme is that it dissolves away the bitter white stuff without damaging the lovely structure of the underlying fruit. This isn't citrus "supreme", it's intact segments with no outward damage. Schneich's photos attest to the visual appeal. As for culinary merit, the main advantage I see is that the juices won't be leaking from the fruit, so you get a burst of flavor when you bite into it. There's certainly a place for citrus that's had the pith cut away. This is simply a different presentation, and I imagine a different experience as well. As for the "scary enzyme" aspect, all I can say is that the foods we cook with every day contain enzymes and other chemicals that sound creepy when described by their scientific nomenclature. From what I can see, this enzyme, and the "meat glue" one in the thread alluded to in Schneich's topic title, occur in nature. Sure, this company is undoubtedly using gigantic stainless-steel fermenters to produce this stuff, so it's far from the quaint and "comforting" artisanal model of food production (most emphatically not a put-down). Come to think of it, the first thing I thought of when I viewed Scheich's photos was - Wouldn't it be lovely to place a perfect segment of organically-grown blood orange in your mouth and experience that sudden release of flavor?

I wonder if the "vacuum infused" method refers to industrial vacuum marination devices rather than vacuum packaging (as in Foodsaver). Your technique of peeling-and-soaking seems workable enough on a small scale. Has anyone in the U.S. figured out how to order this stuff? I searched their web site and didn't see any way of ordering. I'll try contacting them directly.

A while back I tried brining chicken before frying it. The meat was really flavorful and juicy, but the crispy outer layer kind of separated itself from the chicken. It was like a crunchy shell with steaming hot chicken rattling around inside. Not exactly what I was looking for. I didn't combine the brining with the buttermilk soak (makes sense now that you mention it). I brined the chicken, drained it, soaked in buttermilk for a while, then breaded it and let it rest on a rack in the fridge to dry the surface before frying. I wonder if the brining made the chicken too moist.

You might try getting some buttermilk starter so you can make your own. I ordered some of this a while back but still haven't tried it. I believe that the process is just like making yogurt. Anyways, I'm sure that the milk-and-lemon-juice wil work fine for marinating the chicken.

*bump* The Lolabistro web site now lists April 30 as the closing date for their current location. I'm going to make an effort to make it to the Tremont location at least once before they close for the renovation / move. Any other eGulleters have any experience there (Yeah, Michael, we know you've dined there.)

There's no better inspiration for cleaning up a cast-iron frying pan than fried chicken! Scour that pan. Have it sand-blasted if necessary! Season it well and enjoy it for years to come. I believe that it was Andiesenji who told us about inheriting a cast-iron pan from her grandmother, who in turn inherited it from her grandmother. A rusty old pan turns into an heirloom when treated with respect.

I missed out on the curry cook-along too. I was away on business, but I enjoyed the tales of lamb curry vicariously. Kristin, I think that the "fried chicken" concept for this cook-along is intentionally broad. I feel that you should come up with a tasty "fried chicken" variant appropriate to your circumstance. (No trips to Costco necessary). If that means skinless, boneless chicken coated in Panko, I don't think anyone will feel offended in the least! In my (admittedly limited) experience, the chicken available in Japan is very flavorful - probably a major step up from what I can find in my local IGA. Find some nice chicken meat and treat it to your best coating / frying technique. Your best Italo-American-Jananese-NorthEastOhio effort! Yay!

Unless you've got a cold or some other sinus-torture malady, this hardly qualifies as "comfort food". If you're feeling stopped up, I swear by ginger tea . It could hardly be simpler: Take a knob of fresh ginger. Scrape the skin off, slice thinly, and pour boiling water over the ginger. Steep for a few minutes and drink. The heat of fresh ginger will penetrate the most stubborn cold. If your throat is feeling raw, the soothing effect is most welcome. Here's a little anecdote from recent experience. A few weeks ago I spent five days in Puerto Rico on business. I had a cold prior to traveling, and much to my surprise the warm temperatures and high humidity of P. R. did wonders for my sinuses. I won't trouble you with tales of sinus drainage - this is a food site, after all . Suffice to say, I felt great after a few days in that gentle clime. Here's the ugly part: single-degree temperatures when I arrived home. I had turned the thermostat down when I left for my trip, so upon arriving home a cranked the heat up to ~68 and went to bed. Two hours later I awoke in a panic. The house is on fire!!! After several minutes of running around trying to find the "fire", I realized that it wasn't smoke that made my sinuses burn - it was the shock of the dry forced-air heat after I had become accustomed to the gentle air of Dorado P.R. Once I calmed down (I seriously did feel like house was on fire when I awoke to the flaming sinuses ), I had the presence of mind to make some ginger tea before going back to bed. Ahhh, relief!

That sounds great. How long have you been open? I don't remember seeing you listed in the directory. Do you stock lots of hard-to-find peppers? There used to be a shop in North Olmsted (just down from the Indian grocery) that sold nothing but chiles and and related products. They had really awesome dried chiles, including some Peruvian Aji Amarillo that I've never seen elsewhere. I'll have to stop by your place next time I'm out east.

There's a book called Cleveland Ethnic Eats that is quite useful for finding the various small ethnic stores in the area. The book is small enough to keep in your glove compartment. (I do). I live west of Cleveland, so most of the stores I go to would be a bit out of your way. I do go to the big Asian grocery at the corner of East 30th and Payne. It's got a variety of Asian foods but is tilted towards Chinese. I don't recall any Indian foods there, and the japanese selection is pretty limited. There's a small Indian grocery in North Olmsted (across from Great Northern mall), but that's probably twenty miles from Cleveland heights. I'm sure there must be something closer to you. There used to be a couple of Japanese groceries in Coventry (I think) - it's been years since I've gone there. Anyways, the book is very handy and was recently updated.

So far, the projects have been a resounding success. For the next cook-along, I've already voted in favor of Pho. Thai curry is a definite "yes" as well. Since we're aiming to wander through as many different cuisines as possible, we certainly will be visiting southeast Asia more the once. A boning project might be great! Boning is not nearly as hard as it seems if you have done it a few times. That would be fun. ← If we do the stuffed pork trotter, I recommend letting our butcher do the boning. Last week I boned out four pig's feet. I never knew that a pig's foot could have that many bones. For bonus points, we can all learn the difference between "ballotine" and "galantine". This technique actually fits into more than one cuisine. My favorite boned-out poultry follows instructions from Ken Hom. It's possible to turn a bird "inside-out" without major surgery. It's great fun to serve a Thanksgiving turkey that looks entirely conventional. Until you carve it by passing the knife straight down through the bird without hitting any bones. I'm not sure what a "typical" curry is, but the Indian subcontinent is definitely on my itinerary. Hopefully Monica and the gang from the India forum will take pity on us clueless ones. Maybe a lamb korma, with appropriate condiments and bread? Indian bread-making is deceptively simple-sounding. I'd love to learn how to "do it right". OK, I'm willing to accept the inevitable fact that the average Indian granny can kick my ass when it comes to making chapatis, but I'd at least like to try. From Brazil, we should do a real feijoada. From Morocco, a gorgeous tagine (shout out to Paula!). There are so many wonderful foods from so many corners of the world, the mind boggles.

From the press release: Sounds pretty ambitious. I hope they can thrive downtown, and maybe inject some excitement into the area.

One thing that bugs me about the judging on ICA is the relative neglect of the Secret Ingredient. In ICJ the judges were admonished to chose the chef who best expressed the SI, and it seems to me that they took it to heart. In ICA it seems that the judges don't focus much on that aspect - there are plenty of comments like "this is really good" or "this is really pretty", but few of the judges address the Secret Ingredient as a central theme. (Steingarten may be an exception here. I loved his remark about brining out the essential muddiness of the theme ingredient in Battle Catfish. ) I think that Michael's dishes had more to say about the theme ingredient. Had the judges payed attention to that maybe he would have won. Oh well....

No offense taken, I assure you! I too appreciate the diversity of experiences here.

Actually, the process is entirely counter-intuitive (at least to me). When following the Spoon recipe, which I assume is fairly similar to the one here, the initial boiling-down of the first reductions produces a cloudy, milky-looking mess. Exactly what one would hope to avoid in making stock. I like to think of this technique as the "anti-Keller" stock. (With all due reverence to chef Keller). If Keller says "skim! skim! skim!", then Ducasse seems to say "reduce and caramelize, be bold in your reduction". In reading the Spoon recipe, I honestly would have dismissed it out-of-hand were it not for the source. Given that it's Ducasse we're talking about here, I was certainly willing to give it a try, all skepticism aside. After forming a mucky, cloudy mess, the jus sorts itself out into a surprisingly clear amber liquid. There's a minimum of skimming (again counter to theory) - indeed, the Spoon recipe says nothing of skimming at all. And yet if one follows the procedure the results are marvelous. BTW, how did the lamb turn out, MobyP? I noticed that you included carrots in your jus preparation. The Spoon recipe is very minimal - just the meat (whatever is appropriate) plus shallots and garlic. I think that the idea is to keep the jus relatively neutral since it might be used in a variety of dishes. I'm guessing that you augmented you jus with ingredients appropriate to your intended dish. Or does the GL recipe include more ingredients than the one in Spoon?

Heh, I'm not suggesting that "jus" is a new concept, only that Ducasse' technique is new to me. His approach of multiple quick reductions is very different from any traditional stock-making technique known to me - I'm used to the Escoffier / Julia Child / whatever tradition of simmering bones / carcasses with aromatics. Ducasse' jus recipe is a revelation to me (but maybe not to you).

I'll second the recommendation of Faidley's, though I believe misscindy is correct about their not being open on Sunday. Also I seem to recall the begerka mentioned that there was a less than unanimous enthusiasm for crab cakes. I was recently in Baltimore and managed to talk a colleague into going to Faidley's - he's a crab cake fiend, but was surprisingly skeptical about eating at a fish market. Needless to say, he's a convert now. Begerka, glad that O'Shea's worked out for you and your traveling companions.

I've recently come to appreciate the difference between stock (fond) - prepared from bones - and jus - prepared from meat. They're both of great utility, but they're not the same thing. Stock (fond) is literally the "foundation" of many sauces. Jus is a more modern development (as I understand it, at least), and provides a more direct injection of flavor of whatever meat it's derived from. There's a discussion of Ducasse' approach to jus in Moby's thread on the new English edition of the Grand Livre. I've been using the equivalent recipe from the Spoon cook book, and have found it to be highly valuable. It flies in the face of much that I had previously understood as "standard practice", but the results speak for themselves.

Hey Chris, we already know whether you got the "Monster Kitchen" gig. Whana know how it turned out?